Siberian students describe patriotism textbook that urges children to die for Russia

Several schools in Novosibirsk, a southern Siberian city of 1.6 million, received a state patriotism textbook this year, anonymous students told DW. Used in “patriotism lessons” on the curriculum since 2022, it urges children to prepare to die for their country, treats sacrifice in the Ukraine war as virtuous, equates homosexuality with pedophilia and Disney cartoons with pornography, and calls Europeans “thieves, murderers and liars.” It is not on the national core curriculum list, but students say it matches Kremlin aims to spread propaganda in schools.